“Can you govern your animal soul, hold to the One and never depart from it?Can you throttle your breath, down to the softness ofbreath in a child?Can you purify your mystic vision and wash it until it is spotless?Can you love all your people, rule over the land withoutbeing known?Can you be like a female, and passively open and shutheaven’s gates?Can you keep clear in your mind the four quarters of earthand not interfere?” Poem 10

The reader is being prompted to think. Is it possible to be at one with everything and not stray from that oneness? If you concentrate your energy and become wholly relaxed, can you be as simple as a baby. If you avoid being entrapped by worldliness, will you be free of imperfections. If the wise ruler loves his people, can he rule them without manipulating them? Can your mind stay peaceful while still actively processing the world around you? Can you control your animal nature enough to be pure in heart, never distracted from the Way? Are you capable of the personal disciplines that allow you to love unselfishly, wield virtue and understand all while denying yourself?

The Intercept/Block (Traditional Chinese: 截 ; Jie) technique is a defensive technique with the edge of the dao broadsword. The sword wielder intercepts/blocks with the edge, moving it diagonally across his or her center line to redirect an incoming attack away.

“Since the world points up beauty as such,There is ugliness too.If goodness is taken as goodness,Wickedness enters as well.

For is and is-not come together;Hard and easy are complementary;Long and short are relative;High and low are comparative; Pitch and sound make harmony;Before and after are a sequence.” Poem 2

Once one knows beauty, one knows ugliness. Once one knows good, one knows evil. Positive and negative, being and nonbeing, pleasant and unpleasant, such qualities come as pairs as duality prevails among those who are unenlightened. Those who follow the Way and its Virtue are free of these dualisms.

Chang San-Feng (Zhang Sanfeng; traditional Chinese: 張三丰) is shrouded in legend as an immortal mythical hero and a monk-warrior-martial artist endowed with magical powers. Various traditions differ on his birthdate, birthplace, and death date. One tradition holds that he was born at midnight on April 9, 1247 near Dragon-Tiger mountain in Kiang-Hsi Province in southeastern China. He purportedly lived for over 200-300 years during the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties up to the mid-Ming dynasty.

The Pull Out/Pump Out (Traditional Chinese: 抽; Chou) technique is used to withdraw the sword after it has impacted its target. The sword wielder will pull back on the handle to his/her shoulder. For extra momentum, shift the weight from the front foot to the back and turn the body slightly back.

“The highest goodness, water-like,Does good to everything and goesUnmurmuring to places men despise;But so, is close in nature to the Way.

If the good of the house is from land,Or the good of the mind is its depth,Or love is the virtue of friendship,Or honesty blesses one’s talk,Or in government, goodness is order,Or in business, skill is admired,Or the worth of an act lies in timing,Then peace is the goal of the WayBy which no one ever goes astray.”

“Tao Te Ching”, Poem 8-Lao Tzu

The highest goodness, like water, is characterized by humility. A good king or a good man is self-effacing like the Way. His goal is peace, which consists of families secure on their land and the people thoughtful, kind and honest. It also requires orderly government and skillful business with the king doing his duties at the appropriate times.

One should aspire to be “water-like” as water gives to everything without complaining and flows to places people avoid like the Tao. Water spreads its benefits without complaint or expectation of reward.

Water’s benefits include:

1) Its spiritual depth.2) It gives with kindness.3) It is honest, reflecting everything as it is.4) It controls everything within its power equally and impartially.5) It’s completely adaptable, always changing to match its environment.6) Its timing is excellent, doing the right things at the right times.

The kid’s beginner class will provide children with a foundation of basic skills and movements for practicing wushu (Chinese martial arts): hand form, hand techniques, footwork, foot form, and leg techniques. The physical benefits for growing children include greater flexibility, speed, endurance, agility, balance, and coordination. The mental and emotional benefits include greater focus, memory, discipline, self-control, and confidence. Students wear loose-fitting clothes, no jewelry. Uniforms available for purchase. Those advancing in rank require a uniform. Test fees paid to instructor when necessary.

The adult beginner Yue Chia kung fu class will introduce students to basic defensive and offensive techniques which include blocks, sidestepping, chin na (joint locks), throws, kicks, and punches. Students will learn the practical fighting techniques by classical monks and nuns of the Shaolin Temple in China over 1500 years ago. In addition to greater self-defense capabilities, benefits will include improved health, confidence, discipline, memory. Students wear loose-fitting clothes, no jewelry. Uniforms available for purchase. Those advancing in rank require a uniform. Test fees paid to instructor when necessary.

Students will learn the use of swords, spears, staffs, and other martial arts weapons. Individual and partner drills, weapons forms, and sparring will be used to teach and refine weapons techniques. Students will learn increased awareness, mental focus, better posture, and hone hand-eye coordination and reflexes. Students will purchase practice gear as necessary. ﻿

A greedy, power-hungry warlord finds peace and redemption in the Shaolin Temple.

Released in the United States on September 9, 2011, the film “Shaolin” opens on feuding warlords seeking to carve up China among themselves in the 1920s during the early days of the country’s Republican era. The compassionate and noble monks of the Shaolin Temple struggle to care for and protect the common people, who are caught up in the chaos.